The Dragonian Revolution
by DragonScouter
Summary: When the Iaconians push the inhabitants of the colony world, Dragonia, too far, the colonists decide that they are done being in Iacon's shadow and rise up against the 'superior force'. This story shows how Pandimala meets a young Vosnian named Marquis and how the bond between the two grows during the war, and how they say goodbye. Prequel to an upcoming story about Marquis.
1. Declaration of Independence

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.**

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**Authoress: Well, this is strange. I haven't updated in a while and now I pull this out of the hat. Wonder what I will do next?**

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Prologue: Declaration of Independence

**Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.**

Dragonia, it had been my home planet from my creation. It is a beautiful planet rich in resources and nature, though many on Cybertron could never appreciate the beauty of this land and they are never afraid to demand us to give them every single resource that we have just so they can turn around and sell it to us at exuberant prices.

"Pandimala, over here!"

I turned my helm toward the location of the voice and smiled as Tana, my dear friend since I was a sparkling, ran forward. She stood tall for a femme grounder but she was a great friend. Her and I had shared many an adventure, many of those dealing with teasing the Iaconian soldiers that are stationed here. Ever since we were new younglings, we made sure to keep the Iaconian soldiers occupied. Most that I had met were stuck up and pompous fools who I hated to see in such a state of power. They were idiots who knew nothing of honor. Fragging Iaconians.

"Hey Tana, what brings you to Scale Heights?" I asked her. Scale Heights was the capital city of Coldice, the state where I lived. Tana, on the other servo, was from a small town called Shenap, which was located in the state of Pith. Pith and Coldice were neighboring states that would work together from time to time when their interests aligned.

Motioning behind her, Tana said, "You live here and you haven't heard? The five states of Dragonia are holding a meeting here in Scale Heights to contact Iacon demanding the council pay heed to our grievances and give us a voice in their decisions."

"I've only just got back from Pine Canyon yesterday. Rev and Blockade needed help putting up their fences so the cyber-wolves can't get in." I defended myself as my reason for not knowing about the meeting before I realized something. "So why does that bring you here?"

The two of us began to walk toward the meeting house in the center of town before she answered me. "One of the delegates from Pith, Hinge, asked my mentor Chem to come with him to help against possible resistance from the Iaconian forces. Chem, in turn, requested that I come to learn from this experience. Plus, this is Chem's and Hinge's first time to Coldice and since I visit here often to see you, I am also here as a guide."

As Tana had said earlier, there were a total of five states, which were really provinces but they liked to call themselves states, on Dragonia. Coldice, where I lived, Pith, where Tana lived, Lectran, Tian, and Agarath. Unfortunately, most citizens of the states did not travel to the others and did not think highly of them.

But, from my time in the Iaconian army, I had traveled to all of them and had learned how each lived and how they acted to different things. "Tana, it is good to see you again." I said finally. "I am glad that your mentor allowed you to come. I have not seen you in the bot since my time in the Iaconian army." My creators, who had been Major Generals in the Iaconian army, had seen fit to have me start training for the Iaconian army not long after I became a youngling. Back then of course, they had been in full support of the Iaconians, loyalists if you would. But, after five stellar cycles, their attitudes changed but I was not allowed to be taken out until my term was done, which still had twenty stellar cycles from when they tried to take me out.

"Hey," Tana stated, taking me out of my thoughts of the past, "would you look who it is."

I looked in the direction that Tana was looking and smiled as Chaom walked toward us. Another of my friends since I was a sparkling, Chaom's family had been neighbors to mine since my creators moved to Dragonia from Polyhex and his moved from Iacon. They had both been surprised in how similar Chaom and I looked...well, as similar as a mech and a femme could, and had been even more surprised about how quickly we had become friends. These solar cycles, while I was enjoying the civilian life I now lived, Chaom worked as a trade-mech. More specifically, he traded metal with Cybertron and back. He was one of the many bots who were greatly affected by the unfair treatment of Iacon.

Waving my servo at him, I called, "Chaom!"

He turned at my call and smiled before waving toward the two of us. Once we reached him, he joined us in our walk. "Pandimala, Tana; you two heading toward the meeting house?"

We both nodded and I said, "You bet we are. Why are you heading there?"

Chaom laughed as we neared the building before saying, "Coldice's representative, Gearstar, asked me to join him as another representative, since I have been one of many that have been affected by the Iaconians and I have had taken some studies in Cybertronian politics. He believes that it will help us in our discussion with the Iaconians."

I just shook my helm. He had all of the luck between myself and him. It was rare to be asked to be a representative for the state, given as there were few time where the states had made an effort to meet with each other and actually needed to meet. But, once you were a delegate, you had a recognition among the states that was never forgotten, and you were thought very highly of for it. Now, my good friend Chaom held the position. "I bet it will. Iaconians seem to love to play political games with each other and it would help us if we had players who knew how to play their game." Instantly, my mind traveled to my strategy mind of my army solar cycles. All of the games I had to play with the Iaconians just to make sure that I was not underestimated due to myself being a femme and a Dragonian. But, I had learned their games well.

Nodding, Chaom said, "Yes, and it is unfortunate that our very state of being has been reduced to playing games with the Iaconians. It sickens me to my very spark." He then opened the doors for us before saying, "Femmes first."

Tana and I both stared at each other in mock shock before she said, "Politics have changed him. Maybe we should have gotten him into this a long time ago?"

The three of us chuckled at that as we entered the meeting room. But, our chuckles were quickly muted as the mood of the room hit us. I could see that the delegates were all tense and must have been talking in hushed tones before we walked in. Thankfully, they seemed to not have been offended by our light mood as we entered.

While Tana walked over to the two mechs that I was assuming were Chem and Hinge, I followed Chaom over to Gearstar. I had met the seeker the previous solar cycle and I had been impressed with the gray mech with green and yellow markings. He was a great mech who had a good deal amount of wit and intelligence around him. If I remembered correctly,

"Ah, Chaom, it seems you have brought a friend." Gearstar greeted him before he turned to me. "Captain Pandimala, it has been quite some time."

Shaking my helm, I said, "Gearstar, please, just call me Pandimala. I have been out of the Iaconian army for a few stellar cycles now. I am now simply another citizen."

"Of course, my apologies Pandimala. I had heard of your discharge and yet I allowed it to slip my mind." Gearstar apologized.

Smiling, I said, "It is alright Gearstar. You can make it up to me now by telling me a few things about this call today."

He looked relieved when I told him that and nodded at my request. "Of course. Just ask me what you wish to know."

"How many times have the states of Dragonia contacted Iacon to air their grievances?" I asked immediately. I have been out of the loop of the happenings around the political circles ever since I had left the army. It was unknown to me as to whether or not the states of Dragonia had contacted the Iaconians before.

From the nodding that Gearstar was doing, it seemed like they had. "From what I understand, there have been many calls from the individual states to Iacon to try and get them to do something about how we have been treated. The first, from my understanding, was Agarath. The council didn't even pick up their call though. It was diverted to a smaller group of bots who ignored the complaints. Agarath has been the strongest arguers against the Iaconians ever since then."

I nodded in response as I sat down in-between Chaom and Gearstar, I turned to the seeker before saying, "Gearstar, speaking of the attitudes of today, what would you say was the feelings of each state toward Iacon?"

Looking around, Gearstar motioned toward the five sectors of representatives, each having two representatives each, before saying, "I might as well introduce all of the representatives while answering this. Of course, I must start with ourselves. You know Chaom and I, the two representatives from Coldice, and the citizens of Coldice believe that Iacon will not listen to our needs but they are unsure as to what we should do about it."

I nodded. It was no secret that Coldice was straddling the imaginary fence when it came to what to do about our situation with Iacon. "That makes sense, though I can imagine it makes things difficult for you in these discussions."

"Exactly." Gearstar stated. He then motioned to the group to our far left. Both grounders were looking quite bored with what was going to happen but, from my experience in the army, I could tell that they were worried, but putting up a smokescreen to make it look like they were not. "The black car mech with red and yellow markings is called Flareshock and the black truck mech is called Blacklight. They are the representatives from Tian. They are in the same situation that Coldice has."

Made sense from the look of them. "And what about them?" I asked about the group sitting to our immediate left. Coldice was the center group in the room. The group I was referring to looked like they were nervous about being here, like they would get in trouble like a sparkling being caught with their servo in the energon goodie jar.

Gearstar glanced at the group before sighing and saying, "The red and white boat mech is named Brigadier and the white jet mech is called Stormfire. They are the most sympathetic with the Iaconians and fear what Iacon would do if they were even found out to be here. I cannot blame them. Their state, Lectran, is weak when it comes to natural defenses from attack and would not be able to stand well against an attack. Plus, many of them are loyal to Iacon and do not like to hear arguments against them."

I nodded at this. "I know. From my time in the army, I had to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of each state and how to both best attack and defend them."

"Really?" He asked me in shock. I nodded and he, thankfully, did not go further into the question. Instead, he motioned to the group on our immediate right. "The blue and green seeker femme is named Seablade and the white car mech with gray markings is,"

"Templar, and they are the representatives of Agarath." I finished. I had met Templar before and, to say it lightly, he was fiercely against Iacon and everything that it stood for. I had met him a couple of stellar cycles back and, during that first meeting, he had almost taken off my helm. He really had not like the Iaconians even back then and did not like the soldiers. But, I eventually convinced him that I was different. When our optics locked, Templar sent me a small nod in greeting and I smiled before I sent one back.

Gearstar raised an optic ridge at me in return. "So, you have met Templar. While I am curious about how that turned out, the meeting must start soon, and we have one more group to get to." He then motioned to the representatives from Pith and said, "The brown car mech is called Hinge and the silver locomotive mech with red markings next to him is named Smoke Stack. They are from Pith. Pith is much like Agarath but they do watch themselves around Iaconians. That is why Hinge asked for the ruby car mech Chem to come with his apprentice, Tana. Chem was a war hero in the Iaconian army and a master warrior."

I nodded but continued to stare at the giant locomotive mech. He was probably a good four meters taller than my ten meter tall self and I had not met many who were near my height. Plus, his not being a triple changer, like myself, made it even more impressive.

"I need to talk with them all, see what they feel like." I muttered.

Gearstar, not hearing that, turned to me and said, "In total, the amount of calls from the individual states totals around ten, five of those coming from Agarath. It was after the last call that Coldice made that we all decided to join together and make a call as one united group. Maybe, that will convince Iacon to listen to our complaints."

Unfortunately, I found that very unlikely to happen. From my time training on Cybertron, I had learned that, not only were Iaconians idiots, they were also hard-helmed fools that wouldn't bend, no matter how great the force. Before I could say that, however, the screen turned on and I had to hold back a shudder of disgust as the council came on the screen. All six of them appeared to be looming above us, which was another of their tricks. They used the view that their audience beheld them at to gain a servo up in the argument from the start.

"To whom are we speaking?" Halogen questioned.

From my time on Iacon, I could identify most of the council. It was one of the first things you learned to do so you wouldn't insult someone of a higher class than you and, for a soldier in the Iaconian army, that was pretty much all the major nobles and council bots. Before us on the screen, I could identify six of the seven council bots. One must have come on after I left. From left to right was seated Halogen, Dragstip, Roadkill, Sentinel Prime, Breakstreak, and Alpha Trion. The femme next to Alpha Trion, however, was unknown to me. Fortunately, I knew that the entire council was not full of idiots. Alpha Trion was the only stable minded mech that I knew of the six I did. The femme, however, was peeking my curiosity.

Plena Teo, the speaker of the representatives, who was from Coldice, stood and said, "You are speaking with representatives from the five stats of Dragonia."

They all stared at him and I found myself feeling sorry for the mech. But, the feeling was soon replaced by admiration as Plena Teo held his ground and stared right back at them, not giving a nano-inch. "Ah yes, the colony. We have received many calls from you in the past and are curious about why you call us as one." Halogen stated.

I knotted my eyebrows in anger at that. They were pretty much saying that they only reason they bothered to call was because we had called in a united way. They wouldn't have cared otherwise. I was so tempted to yell at them but this was not my meeting to get involved with. I was only an observer.

"We the five states of Dragonia call to ask if you could please hear out our grievances." Plena Teo started. "We wish that you would give Dragonia a representative on the council so our citizens can be represented in your decisions concerning Dragonia. Our citizens are struggling to get by with the enormous taxes that have been placed on them for reasons that were not caused by them."

That was pretty sly. Plena Teo found a way to take a crack shot at the spending extravagances of the Iaconians without outright saying it and making the council question his jests. While I didn't know the mech that well yet, he was yet another Dragonian that I had to make sure that I became acquainted with. While I despised politics, it seemed that there were many interesting bots who were connected to the dreadful thing that didn't seem so bad.

I could visually see Breakstreak bristle at Plena Teo's suggestion and couldn't keep the smirk off of my faceplate. I loved watching the higher ups squirm. To my surprise, though, Sentinel Prime was the one who responded to him. "We must be focused on the overall success of our race in the universe. Caring for the problems of one simple colony planet is not useful in our goals. You had best be thankful that we even took time to indulge this call. Good solar cycle." The screen then went black.

The room was stilled in a shocked silence.

"The nerve of them!" Seablade yelled while slamming her clenched fist against the table in front of her.

And that outburst let loose the damn of yelling and screaming back and forth between the representatives. I was surprised that Chaom and Gearstar also got involved in the yelling, though, I wasn't so surprised to see that they were yelling on the side of the Agaraths. That display from the council probably tipped the room toward hatred of the Iaconians...well, most of them.

Of course, there was still those who were lenient toward the Iaconians. "They do have more to worry about then us!" Brigadier yelled, getting into Templar's faceplate.

This wasn't going to be good. Lectran and Agarath were polar opposites on this subject, true, but they both held strong fighters and I knew that this situation could get serious if somebot didn't stop it. So, who better to stop it than myself? So, I stoop up and pushed in my chair.

"Pandimala, what are you doing?" Chaom asked, forgetting his arguing and reaching out to me.

But, I didn't answer him and continued forward. "ENOUGH!" I screamed while marching down and separating Templar and Brigadier. "You all complain about the Iaconian council and yet you act just like them! You are hypocrites! Now, stand down and shut your vocalizers before you do something you will regret later!"

The only reason that they probably listened was because of the shock of someone yelling at them. The few representatives that I had met looked put in their place and made their way to sit back down. But, the ones that I hadn't met officially continued to stare at me in shock until Stormfire walked forward. For a seeker, he was pretty tall, and broad, and he stood a fourth of a meter shorter than myself. So, we were pretty close to the same height. Most seekers were smaller than me by a couple meters at least. "I don't remember you being a representative, _femme_, and I think you would be wise to keep your vocals shut."

I growled at him and kept up my glare at him before saying, "First of all, my name is Pandimala, former captain for the Iaconian army now a citizen of Dragonia. Second, I will keep my vocals quiet when you bots start to actually think about your actions. Now sit down before I make you."

Most of the other representatives who hadn't already sat down took their seats when I said that. Guess they now knew who I was. Even Stormfire took a couple of paces back away from me. But, Brigadier, instead, marched up to me while saying, "You have a lot of talk for a femme, but talk is cheap."

"And yet it seems that is all you do." I countered back, addressing all of the representatives. That retort caused Brigadier to stop in his tracks and he muttered while going back to his seat. "From what I have found out, today's call to the council makes it the _eleventh_ time that the states of Dragonia have tried to get the council to help us. Yet, they do not do a thing. Are you going to just continue to be all talk, or are you going to put your credits where your talk is and actually do something? Obviously, the council does not care about us." Then, an idea started to come into my helm. And idea so radical that it would be something that had not been done.

Tana and Chaom then walked up to me and stood besides me as Plena Teo gave me a thoughtful look and asked, "From the sound of your statement, captain, you have thought about this before this meeting. So, what do you suggest we do?"

Turning so I looked at each representative, I cleared my vocals before saying, "You are correct in saying that I have thought about this. I care much for Dragonia and hate to see what the Iaconians are allowed to get away with each and ever solar cycle that I live. So, from my experience and in my opinion, there is only one thing that we can do to solve the problem with the Iaconians." I then focused my gaze on Plena Teo before saying, "We must cut all ties with Iacon and make ourselves independent of any council. We must not follow their example and have a government run by many bots of equal power. Having so many bots on an equal footing of power will allow for corruption to enter the system we set up easily. We must break away from everything that the council stands for."

Silence filled the room as my words echoed around. Of course, I was also going to assume the the representatives were contacting their general assemblies with the proposal and they were probably waiting for the vote to come in before they responded. That would be a good thing if it was happening. While this new form of government would have fewer bots in charge, the voices of the people would always need to be heard. It was one of the reasons that we were splitting from Iacon in the first place.

The first to answer was Chaom, who had returned to his seat by Gearstar. "The citizens of Coldice...agree with the plan to declare our independence." I smiled at him and nodded.

"Agarath is in accord with the declaration." Templar stated with a nod to me and a smile. After our initial meeting those stellar cycles ago, Templar and I had a mutual respect for each other...even with my being in the Iaconian army. He had thought that I was simply another pawn soldier who looked down on Dragonians and he had tried to teach me a lesson. What happened though was that we both ended up trapped in a cave after we fought a little and became friends once Templar realized that I was different.

Flareshock then stood up and said, "Tian is also in accords with the independence declaration."

"Pith also agrees." Smokestack stated as he stood up.

Alright, so four of the five states were in agreement. That just left,

"Traitors! All of you!" I sighed as Brigadier yelled that and stood back up. How many times did I have to show this mech that the Iaconians could not be reasoned with. "The Iaconians help protect us from our enemies and this femme is talking us all down the path to ruin."

Unfortunately, I had not realized that he was walking closer to me until I watched the mech pull out a sword and swing it at me. I quickly stepped back but let out a hiss as the blade made a small cut across my abdomen.

Growls arose from the others and I heard some start to rise but I held up a servo to stop them. Then, I slowly rose up and glared at Brigadier before saying slowly, pain in my voice. "Now, what would you have expected me to do if I was a part of the higher society of Iacon if you did that to me?"

Brigadier's optics widened, as did Stormfire's, and I knew that they were finally seeing what sort of beings the Iaconians truly were. Every bot in this room knew that, if they dared strike a higher member of Iaconian society like Brigadier had just done to me, they knew that they would be, at the least, put in the stockades for a good hundred stellar cycles and, at the most, be executed publicly.

The two representatives from Lectran glanced at each other once Brigadier returned to his seat before Brigadier turned to me and said, "I apologize for my outburst, it was uncalled for and shallow of me. Lectran now agrees with the declaration of Dragonian independence."

A cheer rang up in the air and I smiled as I slowly made my way back to my seat. While the cut from Brigadier's sword was not dangerously deep, it caused enough damage to slightly leak energon and for it to sting as I walked. While I knew I would have to get it patched up, I needed to see what was going to happen. So, I re-took my seat next to Chaom and Gearstar.

"Pandimala, you need to get that repaired." Chaom whispered to me.

Shaking my helm, I said, "I want to see how this plays out. Now that everyone has agreed to declare our independence, all we have left is to call the council and I am _not_ missing that call."

Chaom looked worried but nodded before we turned our attention back to the room as Plena Teo, a smirk tugging at his lips and a hopeful look in his optics, sent out a call to the council yet again. I was quite curious about how quickly we would be connected to the council. They had just hung up on us and now we were calling them back. I did know one thing, however. I knew that they were not going to be very happy to be called back.

"What do you want?" Breakstreak demanded as the council reappeared. Most of the council looked quite upset with the 'inconvenience' of our calling again so soon. Alpha Trion and the femme, though, looked curious.

Plena Teo, still smirking, stepped forward and said, "We the citizens of Dragonia have come to a decision about your unwillingness to assist us."

Sentinel Prime stood and growled at that. "How dare you,"

"Please, I am not finished yet." Plena Teo interrupted the Prime. We were all tense now. Most would rather talk back to one of the council than even think about interrupting the Prime. Yet, Plena Teo seemed to have no problem in doing so. "We have come to a decision on this topic and we have called to inform you of this decision." He then paused before saying, "From this nano-click forward, the planet of Dragonia is a world free from any authority not its own and it shall, from this solar cycle hence, cut all ties with Iacon and its ways." He then cut the line and blocked the council from calling back.

Slowly standing, due to my side still being in pain, I slowly clapped for Plena Teo. Most would not have even half the courage that he just showed. Soon, the others in the room joined me in clapping and Plena Teo looked grateful.

"But, that leads us to another problem." Smoke Stack stated. "We must have a leader who can listen to all sides of Dragonia issues and a leader who has the ability to gain the respect of all the citizens of our planet."

The room grew quiet at that as we all started to think. There was no one that I could think of off the top of my helm but there had to be one out there. One bot that all of the states would follow behind to lead them in the inevitable fighting against the Iaconians. There were a few that might hold sway in a few of the states, but none would be able to bring the five states together in our one common fight.

When Stormfire and Brigadier of all bots burst out into laughter, we all turned to them with looks of confusion. They had just been idea of a revolution and now the found something funny? I was so confused. "What is so funny Stormfire?" Templar asked.

Brigadier was the one to answer us. "The answer has been laid before us and none of you have figured it out, especially the bot in question."

We all then watched as Brigadier stood and started to walk forward. I was tense because, the last time he had stood up, I ended up getting slashed across the abdomen...which reminded me that I had to get that looked at here soon.

When Brigadier stopped in front of our table, I glanced at Chaom and Gearstar, believing that Brigadier was going to say one of them. I hadn't really thought that they held that much sway in all five states. Maybe one or two but not,

"You Pandimala."

….Say what? "Me? I was only a captain in the Iaconian army. I have never had to order more than a small group of bots around at one time. Going from that to a planet...I'm not sure I,"

"Pandimala, you are the only one who holds sway with all five states, which you have just shown through convincing us to declare independence from the strongest city-state on Cybertron." Brigadier stated with a smile.

I wasn't sure what to think. It was only then that I realized that he was right. Out of all of the bots that I had interacted with in my time, only I myself had been able to interact with all five states in a peaceful way. While there might be more out there who could do the same thing, I only knew of me, as it seems, did they.

"I would be most humbled and honored to receive such a position," I started as I went to stand up. But, I hissed instead when a flare of pain came from the cut I had received earlier from Brigadier. A servo supporting my arm had me turning to Chaom and and idea suddenly came to me. I was known to Iacon and, if they knew I was in charge, they could use that to their advantage. "But, I must insist on us having a face-bot so the Iaconians will not know who our leader is."

The others in the room nodded in agreement before Plena Teo asked, "Who do you have in mind General Pandimala?"

Smiling at the new title, I said, "There is only one bot who I would trust so much as to relay my instructions fully and have the confidence to pull this off." I then turned to Chaom before saying, "Chaom, would you do me the honor of being the Dragonian figure-head Commander in Chief?"

My friend rose, a smile on his faceplate, before he nodded and said, "It would be my honor Pandimala."

I nodded and was about to turn to the others when the slash that I had received earlier sent me another bout of pain and I gasped before falling to my chair.

"Pandimala, we have to get you repaired, now." Gearstar stated as he came to stand next to me. He then turned to Brigadier and said, "Quickly, find us a medic. We are going to need our new commander in chief at full health if we are to fight a war with Iacon, which I fear is now upon us."

Vaguely, I heard Brigadier run out of the room, presumably to find a medic, and I tiredly glanced around to surprisingly see that I was surrounded by the others who were in the room. Guess I was going to have to be careful now that I was a leader of an entire planet. Just the thought of all of that responsibility made me feel weak. Thousands of Dragonians were going to be looking up to _me_ to lead them against the Iaconian army and to make sure that we earned our independence.

When the medic arrived and he started to work, I realized that we were starting something that had never been done before. If...no...when we won, we will have started a chain event that would bring tyrannies like the Council down to their knees. The future looked brighter than it had in a while and I was so proud to be a part of it now. Every tomorrow had hope for a better future, and I would make sure that future became a very true reality.

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**Authoress: And yet another story to add to my collection.**

**Pandimala: You are insane.**

**Chaom: Please don't tell me you are just realizing this now.**

**Pandimala: Of course not. I am just restating the fact.**

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**AN: I hope you all like this so far. This is going to be heavily based off of the show Libertry Kids. Also, this story is a pre-story to another one that I have planned. This is just going to give you some background on the new main character that I am going to be introducing. So, I really have nothing else to say. Drop a review in if you want. =D**


	2. Marquis Arrives

**Disclaimer: I only own my OCs. Vox is owned by a friend of mine here. **

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**Pandimala: Who is this 'Marquis'? He sounds different.**

**Authoress: Of course he does. He is going to be awesome!**

**Pandimala: Let me be the judge of that.**

**Authoress: Bet you fifty credits that he is going to be awesome.**

**Pandimala: Deal. **

***two seal deal***

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**AN: Marquis speaks with a french accent. I just can't type accents in so I leave it up to your imagination. =) Now, please enjoy!**

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Ch. 1: Marquis Arrives

**Three Stellar Cycles after the Declaration**

**Chem's 1st P.O.V.**

I sighed as I listened to the dignitaries around me speak. It had been three stellar cycles since Dragonia had declared its independence from Iacon. I was in Vos with Tana as a dignitary to hopefully convince Lord Skyscream that it would be in the best interest of Vos to sign a treaty with Dragonia.

Of course, I was still kind of surprised that I was even here. About twenty solar cycles after we had declared our independence and the fighting began, Pandimala had approached me and said that she needed me to come to Vos as an ambassador, since I was known on Cybertron due to my service in the Polyhexian army. While we had lost the fight that had come against us and Iacon, I had made sure that they remembered who I was and I also taught them that, while Polyhex might lose the fight we were fighting, we were going to go down swinging hard...which we had. My efforts during that time caused me to be known on Cybertron and Pandimala wanted to use that to her advantage to gain the alliance.

I had asked Pandimala if Tana could come with me so she could gain experience from this mission. When I first met Tana, the young warrior in training, I sensed that she would turn into something great with the right training, and I knew that I was the only one who would be able to give that to her. So, I had offered to train her and she, thankfully, had accepted my offer.

"Chem,"

Turning to the sound of a voice that I had to listen to for these past three stellar cycles, I put on my best fake smile as the Vosnian foreign minister walked forward.

"Vosnian foreign minister Galestrom." I greeted back respectfully.

The blue seeker with red, green, and white markings led me away from the crowd before saying, "I'm afraid I have distressing news. A Vosnian noble-mech has defied my Lord's orders and has taken a star-ship to Dragonia to join with Chief General Chaom, and General Pandimala."

A smile played on my faceplate at that. While Vos didn't want to join in an alliance just yet, it seemed like some of its citizens were going to help anyways. "Our cause stirs sparks even on Cybertron. I am pleased." This was a great step. Once the Vosnians saw that others on the planet were willing to help their cause, then they would be more inclined to sign a treaty.

"Lord Skyscream is not. Since Vos must remain neutral in this conflict, he requests a tiny favor from you. Write a message to Chief General Chaom and tell him he must not welcome this mech." Galestrom asked.

I thought about that for a moment. While Galestrom had been careful with his wording, I had already found a loophole to get through the request without offending anybot so I asked, "And this mech's name would be?"

Galestrom frowned. "Marquis."

**Marquis' 1st P.O.V.**

I grinned as I took an intake of the fresh air. The air was much more pure here on Dragonian than it could ever be on Cybertron. I was so excited to meet the famous General Pandimala. While Chief General Chaom would be an interesting bot to meet as well, I had heard stories all of Cybertron about the famous General Pandimala. The youngling who could fight the best and was as generous and kind as any bot that had ever been online. Of course, I myself was a youngling and, if I had heard correctly, the great General Pandimala and myself were only a forty solar cycles apart in age. She was my idol.

"Redwing to Marquis, you can snap out of it now."

I turned to my friend Redwing, along with the five others that had come with me to Dragonia, and smiled. The red and white car mech was giving me a I-know-what-you-were-thinking-about look. "Snap out of what?" I asked him, curious.

The six bots laughed at that before Optivic, the only femme in our group, said, "Marquis, you were zoned out thinking about 'the great General Pandimala' again. We could tell by the way you were not focusing."

Blackhawk, a black and blue car mech, laughed as well before saying, "We also know because you wouldn't shut up about her on the trip here."

Embarrassment shot through my systems before I said, "She's my hero bots. I mean, I might actually be able to meet _General Pandimala_ of all bots today!"

Power Raid, a mainly forest green jet mech with white accents, smirked at that and said, "Of course, we have to go and meet the consulate first. You heard from those that got sent back. They had to meet with the consulate before they were allowed to see Chief General Chaom. You might not even meet General Pandimala until the war ends."

I sighed at that. There had been some bots that had come to Dragonia before and had asked to join. They had all said that they had to meet with the consulate, the governing body below Chief General Chaom. What Chaom said was law but the consulate were his advisers and would show him all sides of a choice presented toward him. But, there was a positive to the situation. "Even if the consulate says no, we will have the opportunity to meet with Chief General Chaom and try to convince him about our usefulness in Dragonia's endeavor." I pointed out as we turned a corner. And I immediately stopped. This area seemed way too familiar. And, since I had never been to Dragonia, never mind Scale Heights, I knew that this could only mean one thing.

"You've gotten us lost!" Flare Pyre exclaimed. The red, gray, and black car mech was one for the dramatics. Of course, that didn't mean that he was wrong.

Shrugging my shoulders, I said, "Well, then we just have to ask somebot around here which way we are supposed to go." I then looked around and saw a black, gray, and white car mech walking down the street. Figured he might be the best to ask about this. "Excuse me but could you help us?"

He turned when I walked up to him and gave us suspicious looks before saying, "With what?"

Motioning around to the area around us, I said, "This is our first time to Scale Heights, and Dragonia for that matter, and I am afraid we find ourselves lost. We were hoping that you could point us in the direction where the consulate meets. We have traveled from Cybertron to join the great Dragonian cause."

The mech in front of us relaxed at that and said, "Oh, you're here to join Chaom. Well, I was just heading to see the consulate to give them a message. You can follow me if you want." He then started to lead us. Once we all followed, I walked up next to him and he said, "The name's Beatdrop by the way. I'm a native created Dragonian from Coldice...actually, this is my home town." He then looked at me and asked, "Who are you and were are you from? Since you said you're from Cybertron, I'm curious as to where you all are exactly from?"

...about that.

"My friend here only said we all traveled from Cybertron." Optivic started. "While the mechs here are all from Cybertron, I'm from the planet Vel, and more specifically from a small province called Viral Steeps."

I watched as Beatdrop nodded and that and said, "I've heard of Vel. Never have been there before though." He then turned to the rest of us. "And you mechs?"

"I am called Zantor and I am from Tarn." The red and brown jet mech next to me stated. For a seeker, he had a very deep voice, deeper than any mech I had ever met...and I had met quite a few. It had surprised me when I met him in Vos.

Power Raid then stepped next to me before saying, "I'm Power Raid and I come from Polyhex."

Then, Blackhawk stepped forward. "I am Blackhawk," He then pointed to Redwing. "and this is my twin Redwing. We are from Kaon."

The reaction from Beatdrop that they were twins was pretty much what I was expecting. "You're twins? Sweet. What kind?"

Redwing smiled and playfully punched Blackhawk's shoulder before saying, "Unfortunately, I'm his split-spark twin. Of course, that just means we can have more fun over greater distance."

Their guide nodded as Flare Pyre said, "I'm Flare Pyre and I'm from Iacon."

Thankfully, besides raising an optic ridge, Beatdrop didn't react to Flare Pyre being from Iacon. I had been worried that, because Flare Pyre was from Iacon and the Dragonians were currently fighting Iacon, that Beatdrop might react negatively to him. But, my worry was for naught.

"And what about you?" Beatdrop asked me. "Who are you and where are you from youngling?"

Letting a wide smile spread on my faceplate, I said, "I am Marquis and I come from Vos."

I was not expecting for Beatdrop to stumble in shock before saying, "You're a Vosnian?"

"Ever since I can remember." I responded with the same smile before saying, "Why is it that you react more to me being a Vosnian than Flare Pyre being an Iaconian?"

Beatdrop let out a laugh and said, "Because we currently aren't trying to get a treaty with Iacon. But Vos, well, I am surprised that they let one of their bots out to help us out."

And that told me to keep quiet about how I had left Cybertron until I got in front of the consulate. I hadn't exactly been 'let out' of Vos. It was a long story that I didn't even want to think about until I got in front of the consulate.

The rest of our walk was pretty quiet. Beatdrop was humming some tune that he must have heard. It was lighthearted and it almost mad me want to put a little bounce in my step. But, just before I could give in to my inner need to have fun, Beatdrop stopped humming, and walking, and turned to us while motioning to the building behind him. "The consulate is right through here." He then opened the door for us.

I nodded toward the mech and smiled. "Thank you." I then turned to the others and said, "Well, wish Zantor and I luck bots." The others were just here to sign up so they didn't even have to go through the consulate. But, Zantor and I were here to receive commissions and so we had to go to the consulate.

"Good luck you two." Optivic stated before she led the others to where the normal troops signed up. Hopefully, she wouldn't get them too lost.

Zantor and I then followed Beatdrop inside and I was surprised to see that the building was simple. Of course, it really shouldn't have surprised me now that I was thinking about it. The consulate wasn't like the Council back on Cybertron. First of all, the consulate didn't have any power. They were more like counselors for Chief General Chaom. They advised him but Chaom held the power to actually but word into law. Of course, he didn't have absolute power. The people of Dragonia would decide when they did not want Chief General Chaom in command anymore and he would step down if they asked. Most single rulers could not rule fairly due to the amount of power that they had. But, the Dragonia government had set up a single ruler system where the citizens still had a voice in how things were run, just not too much where the citizens were corrupted with power.

When the three of them entered the room where the consulate met, I noticed that all ten of them seemed to be paying attention to the speaker up front, which was a short mech who was actually close to Optivic's height. "Excuse me." Beatdrop stated to get the consulate's attention.

The speaker of the consulate glanced up at us and said, "Ah Beatdrop, here with another message from Chem? And who are your companions here?"

Beatdrop nodded and stepped forward before handing the speaker a data pad and saying, "Here you go Plena." He then motioned back to us before saying, "These are Zantor and Marquis. The two of them want to join our army as officers."

I could immediately feel a change in the atmosphere of the room. From the air of annoyance that I could feel, I had a feeling that the consulate was used to having many bots come in and ask to be officers. They were probably tired about it too. But, I knew I was destined to be here so I was not going to give up. So, instead, I smiled and waited for them to respond.

They seemed to study Zantor and I for a moment before a white jet mech said, "Mechs, if we issued a commission to every bot who has come to be an officer, our army would have more officers than troops."

The others nodded at that and I found myself starting to become desperate. I just had to meet with General Pandimala. Even to see her, just for a portion of a nano-click, would be a great honor. My friend and I had to convince the consulate of giving us a yes. If they gave us a no, I knew that our chances of getting into the army were slim, though not impossible. "Please, allow me to argue our loyalty to your cause."

The eleven bots in the room glanced at each other and I had a feeling that they were talking to each other over a private comm line. Made sense. They were going to discuss whether or not to let them speak. Of course, I had no doubt that they would allow me to speak if any one of them had been influenced by the example of Pandimala as I had.

My prediction was proven correct when a white car mech with gray markings said, "We will hear you out."

"Thank you." I responded before I started my story. "As you may or may not know, I am a noble-mech from Vos. In Vos, most nobles only care about themselves and how they are going to be able to get ahead in the game of politics. When I heard of your cause and what you fought for, I knew that I had found my calling. So, I found a mech who sold starships and bough the Unité with my own credits." I then mentally winced at the memory of buying the ship. "A lot of my own credits and I traveled to the other city states to find others like me, who were wanting to come and join the Dragonian fight as well. When I had arrived to my last stop, Kaon, I received a message from Lord Skyscream to return to Vos."

Flashback

_I sighed as I followed Galestrom across the hall. It had only been three cycles since I had arrived back in Vos and he was in one of his 'I'm-ruining-his-plans' moods. _

"_Why do you show such sympathy for these Dragonians?" Galestrom asked me when he suddenly stopped and turned to face me._

_Putting my servos to my hips, I immediately said, "They suffer from taxation, without representation, and unfair governance!"_

_Galestrom, in return, gave me another of his looks, this time a 'did-you-just-say-that' look, before saying, "And what is wrong with that?"_

_Um...yeah, I did not think of who I was speaking to when I said that. Once I figured out what I would say, I snapped my digits and let out a laugh before saying, "I was joking. It is because they are fighting our bitter enemies, the Iaconians."_

"_Very good Marquis." Galestrom stated in response to my fix up. "But you cannot go. If Lord Skyscream approved of your plan, Iacon would declare war on us. That cannot happen," He then drew closer to me and said, "at this time. Understood?"_

_I nodded in response._

End of Flashback

"I understood that Lord Skyscream secretly approved of my plan." I continued on. "But Galestrom could not say so. I determined to sail to Dragonia, and glory, immediately. That night, properly disguised,"

"Modified, like a femme!" Zantor let out with a laugh.

We had gone through this so many times it wasn't funny. "I was wearing a merchant's cloak!" I scowled back at him for what seemed like the hundredth time since our journey began.

He simply smirked at me. "Whatever you say my friend."

Shaking my helm, I continued on. "Thank you. I sneaked back to the Unité and we set sail for Dragonia." I then took a pause before saying, "Unfortunately, our navigator's calculations were incorrect and we landed miles away from our destination, in your state of Agarath. Still, delighted to finally reach this blessed land, I prepared for a warm welcome. Happily, we identified ourselves as allies, not enemies, so our ship was not destroyed. The town's people invited us into their homes, gave us directions, and sent us to make our rendezvous with freedom and liberty. And three solar cycles later, we are here in your city of Scale Heights. Humbly offering our services to yourself, Generals Chaom and Pandimala, and your citizens."

I smiled as a cheer rose up in the air and the members of the consulate gave us an applause. I think that I may have gained their approval. That would be a great thing for our final audience with Chief General Chaom.

The head mech, the short one up front who had greeted Beatdrop, cleared his vocals and I paid attention to him. "Most entertaining sir, and we thank you deeply for your interest, but this consulate must give you a no."

Shock filled my systems. I had received a no from the consulate. This would not help me with my meeting with Chaom. I was in such a shock that I didn't move until Zantor pulled me back. Without a word, I followed him, trying to figure out how I could convince Chaom of my usefulness.

"Marquis," The main mech up front called to me. I stopped and turned back to him. "we may have said no, but you will have your meeting with Chaom tonight at a local bar called Slapjack's." I nodded and was about to leave when the mech continued. "You are in luck though. General Pandimala just returned from a skirmish in Clariot Springs and will be with General Chaom tonight."

Nodding, I walked out of the room and quickly went outside. When I got outside though, my faceplate broke out in the largest of grins. While I had received a no from the consulate, I had received the best news ever.

"Don't even start Marquis." Zantor warned with a look.

...That was too late. "I can't wait for tonight! I'm going to finally meet General Pandimala! I can't wait!" I grinned so widely that anyone passing would think that I was an insane foreigner.

Zantor groaned at my outburst and said, "Just remember that you need to convince Chief General Chaom that you are going to be a benefit to him. Don't spend the entire meeting being a fan-mech to General Pandimala."

And he was right, of course, I had to show Chief General Chaom that I was going to be loyal to both him and the Dragonian cause. That wouldn't be helped if I was being a fan-mech to General Pandimala. "Very well," I said with a depressed sigh. "I will try as hard as I can to not be like that. But, it will be difficult." The two of us then went to our lodgings to make preparations for the meeting tonight.

**Later That Night**

**Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.**

"I dread this Chaom, Vox." I stated with a sigh as Chaom, Vox, and I sat in Slapjack's, waiting for these two mechs from Cybertron to come for their meeting with Chaom. "These preening foreigners here to play at war, with no understanding of that for which we fight. They only come for the claim to say they fought against the Iaconians and to battle. They want energon spilled, not freedom or equality." I then let out a sigh. "Many of our troops refuse to fight under them, and no wonder. They seek only glory, with no understanding of our cause."

Chaom nodded and said, "The consulate contacted me and said that they have given these two a no. Given what the consulate has given a yes to, which is pretty much anybot with a fragging title and some credits, these bots must really be the bottom of the heap."

Nodding at that, I picked up my cube of low grade and leaned back in my chair. Thankfully, I didn't have to come to many of these, since Chaom was my face mech. He had to go through all of the interviews and he would record them and send them to me so I would make the final decision. This was one of the few that I had been to. The last four that I had been to had all been turned down. Hopefully, this one would be different. I had just returned from a battle and I was in no mood for preening foreigners. Actually, I wasn't in the mood for anything against our cause or me. I had quite enough of that earlier from our own troops.

Flashback

_I sighed as I walked through the camp. While I was officially the Chief General of the army, only a trusted few knew of this. To everyone else, I was simply a general. But, being a general still gave me a strong sense when around others and, as I walked, I noticed that everyone seemed to snap to attention, or scowl and walk away, depending on who they were. While most bots from most states were glad that I was a general, and that Chaom was in charge, some did not like to be commanded by a femme, and a youngling at that. _

"_Move, move, move!" _

_I turned around at the sound of a youngling younger than myself yelping before I frowned. Two younglings that I had met a few solar cycles ago were running in my direction with three adult bots following behind them. The three adults did not look to happy with Flarewing, a red, yellow, and orange seeker mech, and Shutterfrost, a dark blue and blue-white car mech, and the two younglings seemed to not want to be near them. _

_The two of them seemed to not look where they are going because, within a few nano-clicks, they crashed into me and, while I stayed standing, they fell to the ground and the three adults stopped in their tracks. Now that they were closer, I recognized the three bots. The silver and purple boat femme was called Silverslate, the red and neon yellow truck mech was called Shortwave, and the black and blue car mech was called Stryker. _

_Stryker and I had a stare-off for a moment and I was not backing down. I had to affirm my authority with the adults and this was a perfect opportunity, though I would be talking with Flarewing and Shutterfrost about antagonizing the adults. The two soon hid behind me._

"_Look at her," Stryker started, "the youngling femme general from Coldice. Every bot knows nothing good ever came from there."_

_There were many things that I would take from others, but this was not something I would let pass. So, I stormed up to him, his other two companions retreating, and gripped him just underneath his shoulder armor before lifting him into the air and glaring straight into his optics. "I hope you are as good at fighting Iaconian soldiers as you are chasing young ones." I growled before throwing the mech to the ground. I then turned and looked at the two younglings before smiling and saying, "As for you two, come with me." They nodded slowly and followed me as I walked away to make plans for our first attack._

End of Flashback

When the door suddenly opened, I glanced up and raised an optic ridge when I saw a red and brown jet mech and a dark blue mech with yellow shoulders. From how they looked, they were the two mechs that the consulate said were coming. Zantor and Marquis. Zantor looked like he could be a good major general or even a lieutenant general. But, I didn't see much more for him on the ranks.

The other mech, however, was peeking my interest greatly. This 'Marquis' had an air about him that seemed very familiar to me. It was filled with hope and excitement. There was something about him that gave _me_ hope that this was all going to turn out alright. But, I would see with this interview. I knew that Marquis would be too focused on Chaom to notice me observing him.

When the two of them walked up, Chaom, Vox, and I stood to greet them. To my surprise, the one called Marquis seemed to be staring at me in some sort of awe before Zantor elbowed him and he looked to Chaom. "Chief General, it is an honor to meet you."

"The honor is mine Marquis. Thank you for coming so far to join our cause." Chaom responded like he should. The five of us then sat down around the table.

**Marquis' 1st P.O.V.**

Scrap! I had already almost messed this up. When I had come up, I had been so in my thoughts about finally seeing Pandimala in the bot that it was only because Zantor elbowed me that I remembered to greet Chaom first. But, it was so hard. Here, right next to me, was my idol...my hero. It was hard to focus on Chaom.

"Allow me to introduce two of my aide-de-camps;" Chaom started. "General Pandimala, and General Vox." He motioned to Pandimala and the dark blue and dark gold car mech, who I was assuming was Vox.

I smiled and bowed my helm slightly slightly before saying, "I am Marquis and this is my friend Zantor."

When Chaom brought his servos together, I watched. He seemed to be somewhat taken aback, and I wasn't sure why. I figured that this meeting would be like an interview. But, so far, we had just gone through the introductions and Chaom seemed to be off. What did I do?

I grew even more curious when Chaom gave a quick nod before saying, "I must apologize sir. I'm afraid you'll find our troops greatly inferior to those of your own country."

"General please," I started. He had gotten me all wrong. "I am here to learn, not to preach. And in many ways, I feel like this is my country. The happiness of all children of Primus is deeply bound up with the happiness of Dragonians." I then paused before smiling. "I bring to you my sincerity and my good will, no ambition or selfish interest. It is my deepest hope that this planet will become a cherished and safe asylum of virtue, of tolerance, and of peaceful liberty."

When Chaom, Vox, and even Zantor looked shocked at my statement, I was okay with that. But, when General Pandimala simply smiled, I had a feeling that something was off with this whole thing. When I had first arrived, I had seen something was up between Pandimala, Chaom, and Vox and now I was even more sure of it.

"Marquis, please continue." Chaom stated after a moment of staring.

But, I decided to take a chance. "No thank you Chaom. Not until the real Chief General makes themselves known." I stated with a smirk before leaning back in my chair and putting on a neutral look.

It was so hard to though. Zantor looked like he was going to have a spark attack and Vox and Chaom looked like they were going to have a panic attack. But, it was the reaction of Pandimala that kept me smirking like an idiot. That reaction? Well...

She was smirking right back at me.

"Marquis," Zantor started to whisper, "what are you,"

"I am impressed Marquis." Pandimala interrupted Zantor with a smile. "You are the first to ever join the Dragonian forces, who did not already know, to discover that Chaom is not the real Chief General. Tell me, what gave him away?"

I smiled at her in relief and excitement, relief that I was right and excitement knowing that I was to hold a conversation with Pandimala. "Chaom seemed to hesitate after I greeted him and introduced both myself and Zantor to him, like he was communicating with somebot else. Also, he reacted too strongly to my proclamation about why I am here, which is completely true of course." I then smiled. "Chief General Pandimala, I must say that it is the greatest pleasure of my existence to finally be able to meet you."

While the look of shock on Zantor's faceplate grew and the looks of panic on Vox's and Chaom's faceplates grew, Pandimala's grin grew wider. "The pleasure is mine, my dear Marquis. Now, please tell me how you came to be on Dragonia and looking to become an officer in my army."

Smiling back at her, I started to retell my tale of how I came to hear of the Dragonian cause and how I escaped from Vos to come here and join up with her and the Dragonian army.

**Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.**

"And I sneaked out of Vos modified as a femme!" Marquis stated to me with a smile.

Though I tried to, I could not hold back the laughter that was caused by that last bit. I could just imagine Marquis disguised like a femme and it was hilarious. This mech had done so much just to come and help us fight our fight, risking all that he owned and held dear to himself just to help our revolution. Plus, like Vox and Chaom, when I was around Marquis, I felt like I was around family, like Marquis was a brother. I felt like I could relax and be myself around him, nothing to hide.

Calming down from my laughing, I motioned to Marquis and said, "You must tell me more my dear Marquis."

He smiled a giant smile at me and continued to talk. As I listened to him, I could not stop the feeling that I was feeling from taking me over, and I didn't mind. This Marquis was going to be great. I was now even more grateful that the consulate did not have the power to turn away bots coming to help, that it was my job...Chaom's by default, to sift through the recruits for officers.

Once, I would have said that I could tell what a bot was like when I first laid optics on them. This time, though, I was ready to admit that I did not always know. Marquis, I had known that he was letting off an air of hope, but I never suspected that it was this far deep in his programming. The mech was filled to the brim with optimism for our victory and hope for our tomorrows.

When he finished, I knew what I had to do. "Marquis, Zantor; I am most pleased by this meeting with the both of you. Now, you are waiting to see what our final decision is?"

"Cyber-kitty went bye-bye?" Chaom stated groggily as he woke up. I couldn't stop myself from smirking at that. Everyone besides myself and Marquis had fallen asleep during Marquis' recounting what I wanted him to.

Laughing slightly, I said, "No Chaom, there is no cyber-kitty here, but I am about to give Zantor and Marquis here my final verdict."

That got them all real serious real fast. Since Marquis and I had been the only ones to stay awake the entire time, they had no idea what my true reaction was to Marquis. "On the matter of accepting Zantor and Marquis into the Dragonian army as officers, what is your decision?" Vox asked me. I had no doubt that he was recording this for later use, a habit he had picked up from his ex-surveillance solar cycles with the Iaconian army, which was where the two of us had met.

But, back to Marquis and Zantor. "Zantor, I hereby give you the rank of lieutenant general in the Dragonian army. You will meet up with General Scallion at his camp in Bighton Forest tomorrow mid-solar cycle." Zantor smiled at that and nodded his thanks. From the relieved look on his faceplates, I was guessing that he had assumed I would turn him down because the consulate gave him a no. I then turned to Marquis, the mech that, while only knowing him for a few cycles, I had already created a sort of friendship bond. "Marquis, I hereby give you the rank of general in the Dragonian army. You are to join Chaom and myself when we go to our base at Sandstone Canyon tomorrow in the early cycles."

I smiled when Marquis practically beamed with gratitude. He was the kind of bot that I was grateful to have in my army. But, I still had to test him. If he could not lead troops in battle efficiently, then he would be useless as a general, no matter how much I thought he deserved the post.

**Sandstone Canyon-Marquis' 1st P.O.V.**

I was so excited to be a part of the Dragonian army. Not only was I a general, but I had met General Pandimala and learned that she was actually the Chief General, though it was a big secret and I took an oath not to ever say it out loud, in a message, or any of the other sorts of communication.

After adjusting how I was seated, I turned to Pandimala and said, "I am ready."

Pandimala, though, let out a chuckle before saying, "Patience my dear Marquis. As dear as I hold you, you must prove yourself in the field before I give you bots to command."

Despair went through my systems at that. I wanted to help so bad but I couldn't do that yet. "Forgive me Pandimala, but then how can I serve our cause?"

She smiled and put her servos on my shoulders before saying, "My friend, I'm certain opportunities will present themselves."

I nodded and stood before walking to sit on a rock outcrop against the side of the canyon with my lunch. Unfortunately, rations were the lowest low-grade that was possible, due to supplies being short, and I knew that I was not the only one to not like having to have it all the time. But, I had a learned a special trick back home to allow me to drink my low grade like it was the best grade I had ever had.

The feeling of someone staring at me caused me to glance to the side and I saw two bots quickly look away. One was a forest green and orange jet mech named Forest Dash, and the other was a red and neon blue car femme named Nightingale. They didn't look too happy and I figured that it was about the low grade that was our meal. And, with the way that they quickly turned away from me, I also figured that they were talking about me. Of course, I could also bet about what. I had heard the name that people called me when they thought I couldn't hear. 'General Pandimala's little Vosnian pet'. That was the name that they said in connection to me.

Deciding to go and try and cheer the two bots up, I stood up and walked over. They, of course, had a look of shock appear on their faceplates before they started to drink their low-grade like they were not just staring at me. "Bottoms up my good bots." I said in a cheery voice before taking a swig of the low grade. Smiling once it was down, I said, "This reminds me of most wonderful high grade mixed with platinum flakes I have ever had." I then took a gulp before saying, "And it reminds me of the most beautifully played Flanelian Pipe I have ever heard, sheer heaven!" I then took a quick drink of the low grade before motioning to Nightingale's energon. "Nightingale, Forest Dash; what do you have there?" They both looked down at their cubes and frowned. "I dreaded drinking this energon, until I imagined it was my favorite energon." Smiling, I then asked, "What is your favorite energon?"

The two looked a little confused before Nightingale finally said, "Well, my brother makes the best high grade with rust sticks."

Nodding and smiling, I said, "Then take a drink my friend, and think of your dear brother."

She nodded and took a drink before smiling and taking more. Soon, Forest Dash was doing the same. Feeling accomplished, I walked back to the rock I was sitting on. When I sat down, I glanced over at Pandimala and she smiled while giving me a short nod of approval. Feeling accomplished, I continued with my cube until it was empty. While it had not tasted the best, it was definitely still drinkable.

Our respite didn't last long though, as Zarron, one of Pandimala's top scouts, ran into the camp at top speed. Something had to be up and I knew that I needed to hear. So, I quickly got up and ran to Pandimala's table that she was sitting at. I arrived at the same time Zarron did.

"Pandimala, we have trouble." Zarron started while trying to calm his intakes.

Standing up, Pandimala asked, "What's wrong Zarron?"

It took Zarron a few nano-clicks to catch his intakes before he said, "Iaconian soldiers heading this way. They must be planning on taking Scale Heights."

I watched Pandimala took this information in. After a click of silence, she turned to me and said, "Prepare the troops for battle. I must contact the consulate and Chaom and tell them to evacuate just in case we cannot keep the Iaconians back."

Chaom had left Sandstone Canyon the previous night to meet with the consulate about Iaconian movements. But, they had not thought that they Iaconians would try to take Scale Heights. This was news that Chaom and the consulate needed to hear. "I'll get right on it." I stated before sending out a call to our troops to prepare for battle.

**A Cycle Later**

Blaster fire flew all around me as I navigated the field. The fight with the Iaconians was not fairing well so far. Our troops were very inexperienced and were barely holding their own. I was on the outer right flank of our troops and I was holding them together as best as I could. But, I knew that I could not waiver in my watch or they would panic. If they did that, then the Iaconians would decimate them.

"_Marquis, sound for a retreat. The Iaconians have our troops outnumbered.-Pandimala"_

I hated to retreat. If we retreated here, that could only mean one thing. "_But Pandimala, Scale Heights will be lost. The moral of our troops will be impacted.-Marquis."_

I dodged a blaster shot aimed at my helm before I got a message back. "_I know. But, the city is of now strategic value. Chaom and the consulate, along with the citizens who have chosen too, have fled to Pith. We must keep the army intact to fight another solar cycle.-Pandimala"_

"_Affirmative.-Marquis"_ I responded before turning back to my troops. We needed to keep our soldiers alive to fight again. So, I yelled out the order. "Right flank retreat!"

I stayed with the front line and provided cover fire while the rest of the troops of our flank retreated. Thankfully, these troops were not facing heavy fire or they would be in more trouble than the normally would be. If they had panicked, than many more would have fallen.

Once the last of my flank retreated, I motioned to the line I was with to retreat and was about to join them when I noticed something was off about the middle platoon of soldiers. They were starting to panic. Their lead, Brigadier General Hollow Point, had been offlined and now her troops were in a panic. I knew what I had to do.

Transforming into my vehicle mode, I sped across the battlefield until I arrived in front of the troops. Once there, I transformed back into my basic mode before turning to the troops and saying, "About face bots! Retreat calmly!" None of the troops were responding to my orders. They were in a panicked flurry of processor and I knew that I had to get them to calm down. Running closer to them, I stopped before I yelled, "Retreat calmly!"

And I immediately flinched when a blaster shot whizzed past my helm, barely missing me. "Whoa!" I called out in shock before I had to dodge a flurry of shots that were fired near me, each one a close miss. Finding inspiration from all of the misses, I turned to the troops. "Look!" They stopped and looked at me as I said, "The Iaconians cannot hit the broad side of a star ship!" Instead of being inspired by that, like I had hoped that they would, they turned and ran some more. I had to maintain order or they would all be killed. But how?

To my surprise, the familiar forms of Nightingale and Forest Dash ran next to me and I reached out and grabbed them before turning them to me and saying, "If we panic we are lost! Help me maintain order. I am counting on you!"

The two of them looked at each other before nodding and so the three of us made our way around to the troops who were running and finally formed a line to cover the retreat. That could not have gone any better. The troops were finally starting to listen and were holding off the Iaconians while the rest of the troops from the middle retreated. Once they were out of harms way, I motioned to the remaining troops to retreat. "Courage friends!" I yelled out. "We will have our day next time! To fight, to win! Freedom! Freedom!" I was the last one to the safety area but, just as I was almost to safety, I cried out in pain as a blaster shot slammed into the back of my lower right leg and ripped a hole in it. The force of the blast forced me to tumble over a hill and the last thing I saw was black before I went unconscious.

**Pandimala's 1st P.O.V.**

Where was he? I had been looking around the wounded for half a cycle and I had yet to find Marquis. The last time I had seen him, he had been helping the troops at our center retreat since Hollow Point, Primus rest her spark, had offlined during the battle and the troops had started to panic. He had definitely proved he could lead the troops. Now, I just had to find my dear friend. I had looked around almost everywhere around where are wounded were being kept but I had yet to find him. Fear and worry about his condition were starting to creep into my helm.

"General Pandimala!"

I turned to the voice and saw that it was a black and blue car mech called Incisor, one of the colonels stationed here at Sandstone canyon. "Yes Incisor, what is it?" I asked him.

He ran up to me before saying, "I found him. I found General Marquis. You had best bring a medic."

My spark felt relief that Marquis had been found but worry found its way in there and my optics widened as Incisor said that I should bring a medic. What had happened to my friend? "Balm! With me now!" I yelled to my personal medic and dear friend before turning to Incisor. "Lead us to him now!" I ordered.

He nodded and Balm and I followed him until we ended up not far from the battle field and through a crevice until I saw Marquis leaning against the back wall of the crevice. He had multiple dents that probably were caused by the fall he took to end up down here, his communicator looked trashed, which explained why he had not received any of my inquiries about his location, and, the most notable wound was a large hole in his lower right leg.

"Marquis!" I yelled as I raced up to him, while Balm was gathering her medical equipment, and knelt to the ground next to him.

He smiled right back at me, though the pain was obvious in his faceplate, before he said, "It appears the Iaconians have welcomed me to Dragonia with a blaster shot through the leg." He then winced from the pain.

I could feel the worry flow through my systems as I said, "Balm will look at it immediately."

"Perhaps later Pandimala." Marquis refuted, much to my surprise. He then winced before continuing. "The troops,"

"The troops are fine." I said with a calming gesture to Marquis. When he groaned and almost fell forward, I caught him and helped him lean back against the wall before saying, "The army _will_ survive to fight another solar cycle." When Marquis let out a groan of pain and briefly offlined his optics, I put a servo on his shoulder and said, "Don't move. Balm!"

Balm ran over to me and knelt down next to Marquis' injured leg before she started the repairs. Turning back to Marquis, I said, "This is Balm, my personal medic. She will take care of you." Then, to Balm, I said, "Treat him like you would my family."

I then turned back to Marquis and smiled when I saw that he was smiling at me, through the winces of pain that his leg was giving him. I knew that this battle had forged a bond between us and I doubted that any force in the universe could take that bond away. We were family now, and, like a brother, I would protect him with my spark.

* * *

**Authoress: Hand it over Pandimala. *holds out empty bag***

**Pandimala: *groans and puts fifty credits in bag* I admit it. Marquis is awesome.**

**Marquis: Why thank you femmes. I didn't know you thought so highly of me.**

**Authoress: I love him.**

**Marquis: Does this mean you won't torture me like you do everyone else? Please?**

**Authoress: Well...**

**Marquis: *hopeful look***

**Authoress:...no. I have to have fun with you. It is too good to pass up. =)**

**Pandimala: *puts arm around Marquis' shoulders* Don't worry Marquis. You'll get used to it. Just look at me. I'm still alive.**

**Vox: Barely.**

**Pandimala: *frowns***

**Authoress: Go Vox!**

* * *

**AN: And here is another chapter of the Revolution! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Marquis is the bot that I am going to be mainly focusing on during this, as well as Pandimala, and he will be the main character in a story that is going to follow this. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to give me a holler. Until then, please drop a review, even to say hi! =D**


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